March 6, 2009—The Third Annual Green Building Survey by Allen Matkins, Constructive Technologies Group (CTG) and the Green Building Insider reveals broad support for green construction.
The survey, completed by more than 900 respondents, addressed current attitudes toward green building, its risks, costs, certification processes and trends. Completed in December 2008, it gauges the opinions of professionals involved in green building and LEED certification. The vast majority of respondents endorsed building green, with 93.4 percent of survey participants agreeing that it is worth the time and effort.
However, only 66.2 percent (down from 76 percent in the 2007 survey) agreed that it was worth obtaining official LEED certification from the US Green Building Council.
These results suggest that while building industry respondents almost unanimously indicated that it is worth the time and effort to build green, LEED certification was perceived as attractive by just two-thirds of green building supporters.
Balancing green construction costs with the benefits of green is an ongoing discussion within the industry; however, survey responses are consistent with other industry surveys in that the most respondents felt that the cost premium for constructing a green building over a traditional building is less than 4 percent. Also, due to recent increases in energy costs, 74 percent indicated they were more likely to incorporate sustainable elements into future projects.
The scope of the survey was expanded from previous years.
The survey results are available online.
In addition to the survey, which covers the fastest growing sector of construction, Allen Matkins recently marked a successful anniversary of publishing its Green Building Update, offered via free subscription to owners, contractors, architects, urban planners, commercial and residential real estate developers, environmentalists, and anyone interested in green building issues. For more information or to subscribe, see the Web site.
